Presley heartbreak
Grandson of Elvis dies at 27
LISA Marie Presley’s son Benjamin Keough – grandson to rock‘n’roll legend Elvis Presley – has died aged 27 of an apparent suicide.
TMZ reports that the son of Lisa and musician Danny Keough died on Sunday in Calabasas, Los Angeles.
In a statement provided to EW on Monday, a representative for Lisa Marie said she was “beyond devastated” over her only son’s death.
“She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter Riley,” the statement read.
“She adored that boy. He was the love of her life.”
Benjamin was a relatively little-known member of a very famous family, with musician mother Lisa Marie, musician father Danny, and his older sister, actress Riley Keough.
And he also shared a strong family likeness to his late grandfather, something his mother once acknowledged in an interview.
“Ben does look so much like Elvis. He was at the Opry and was the quiet storm behind the stage. Everybody turned around and looked when he was over there. Everybody was grabbing him for a photo because it is just uncanny,” she said.
TMZ reports that Benjamin had wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, signing a record deal worth $US5 million back in 2009.
Benjamim’s death is a tragic blow for the Presley family, which has endured very public struggles in recent years.
In 2018, Lisa Marie claimed her former business manager squandered her entire
share of her late father’s $US100 million ($135 million) fortune, whittling it down to just $US14,000 ($19,000).
Last year, Benjamin’s grandmother Priscilla Presley was forced to sell her Los Angeles mansion to help out her daughter with her debts.
“Priscilla would never
have done this if she didn’t believe it was her daughter’s last chance,” a source told Radar of the $US5.5 million sale at the time.
The most recent photo of Benjamin on his mother’s Instagram account was posted in June 2019. It shows Lisa Marie with her two older children, Benjamin and Riley, alongside her younger twin daughters from her fourth marriage, to guitarist Michael Lockwood.
“Mama lion with cubs,” she captioned the sweet family snap.